Deconstructing circadian disruption: Assessing the contribution of reduced peripheral oscillator amplitude on obesity and glucose intolerance in mice

Disturbing the circadian regulation of physiology by disruption of the rhythmic environment is associated with adverse health outcomes but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Here, the response of central and peripheral circadian clocks to an advance or delay of the light‐dark cycle was determined in mice. This identified transient damping of peripheral clocks as a consequence of an advanced light‐dark cycle. Similar depression of peripheral rhythm amplitude was observed in mice exposed to repeated phase shifts. To assess the metabolic consequences of such peripheral amplitude depression in isolation, temporally chimeric mice lacking a functional central clock ( Vgat‐Cre + Bmal1 fl/fl ) were housed in the absence of environmental rhythmicity. In vivo PER2::LUC bioluminescence imaging of anesthetized and freely moving mice revealed that this resulted in a state of peripheral amplitude depression, similar in severity to that observed transiently following an advance of the light‐dark cycle. Surprisingly, our mice did not show alterations in body mass or glucose tolerance in males or females on regular or high‐fat diets. Overall, our results identify transient damping of peripheral rhythm amplitude as a consequence of exposure to an advanced light‐dark cycle but chronic damping of peripheral clocks in isolation is insufficient to induce adverse metabolic outcomes in mice.